BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL

Roger Federer notched his 1,000th career victory and collected his 83rd title with a seesawing 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4 win over third-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada in the Brisbane International final on Sunday.
The 17-time major winner broke Raonic's serve in the third game and again in the opening game of...

Maria Sharapova beat Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Brisbane International on Saturday in a display that bodes well for her chances at the Australian Open.
It has been seven years since Sharapova won her only Australian Open title but if she can take her form from Brisbane to Melbourne,...

US Open champion Marin Cilic has withdrawn from this month's Australian Open because of a shoulder injury, the world number nine said on Saturday.
The 26-year-old has been struggling with a right shoulder problem for more than a month and the Croatian skipped the Brisbane International in the hope of recovering...

Brisbane: Roger Federer moved to within one win of his 1,000 career victory when he crushed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
The Swiss maestro produced a masterclass display to brush aside his young challenger, dubbed "Baby Fed", 6-2 6-2 in just 53 minutes....

Brisbane: Milos Raonic fired 34 aces to grind out a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) win over second-seeded Kei Nishikori on Saturday to reach the Brisbane International final.
The third-seeded Raonic appeared to grow in confidence as the match progressed, earning three match points with an ace in the third...

Brisbane: Serbia's Ana Ivanovic battled her way into the final of the Brisbane International on Friday, beating American Varvara Lepchenko 7-6(2) 6-4.
Ivanovic, who came from a set down to win her previous match, once again had to dig deep before seeing off Lepchenko after nearly two hours on the Pat...

Roger Federer sent a reminder to the young guns of men's tennis that he is nowhere near close to riding quietly into the sunset when he romped to victory in just 39 minutes at the Brisbane International on Friday.
The 33-year-old Swiss maestro produced a masterclass of shot-making as he thrashed...

Brisbane: Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov lived up to their status as new-generation Grand Slam contenders by winning through to the semifinals of the Brisbane International with victories on Friday.
Dimitrov had 6-3, 6-4 win over Martin Klizan of Slovakia, and his semifinal opponent will be the winner of...

Brisbane: Roger Federer avoided an embarrassing start to the new season when he dug himself out of trouble to beat little-known journeyman John Millman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Brisbane International on Thursday.
What was expected to be a romp in the park for the Swiss maestro quickly turned into a...

Brisbane: Maria Sharapova moved into the Brisbane International semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Carla Suarez Navarro on Thursday, weathering a challenging opening few games before taking the momentum away from her Spanish rival.
Top-seeded Sharapova dropped her opening service game and then needed eight breakpoints before converting for a...

Brisbane: Kei Nishikori opened his season with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Steve Johnson at the Brisbane International on Wednesday, converting a break point in each set and raising his game a notch when he needed it most.
The 25-year-old Japanese player set benchmarks for Asian men in tennis during a...

Brisbane: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza began the 2015 season and her partnership with Su-Wei Hsieh with a hard fought 7-5, 6-3 win over Jarmila Gajdosova and Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Indo-Taipei pair got the better of unseeded Australian-Croatian pair in one hour and 10 minutes.
In the quarter-finals of...

Brisbane: Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were playing in tournaments on opposite sides of Australia, their form veering in opposite directions.
The second-ranked Sharapova opened her 2015 season by winning nine straight games in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Yaroslava Shvedova on Tuesday in the second round of the Brisbane International....

Brisbane, Australia: Third-seeded Angelique Kerber secured the first spot in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Daria Gavrilova on Tuesday.
Varvara Lepchenko also advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over fellow American Madison Keys, who had ousted Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the first...

The decibel readings were not needed for Victoria Azarenka on Monday as the groans from the crowd at the Brisbane International almost drowned out her trademark shrieks. Still struggling to get back to her best, the former world number one was beaten 4-6 7-6(7) 6-4 in the first round by...

Roger Federer will ease into his new season with a match against either a wild-card entry or a qualifier at the Brisbane International next week.
Federer, who arrived in Australia on Saturday, has a first-round bye in the Australian Open tune-up tournament. Then the 17-time Grand Slam champion will play the...

Brisbane: Former World No.1 tennis star Lleyton Hewitt said on Friday he wasn't concerned about rankings despite staring at the prospect of a huge drop in the pecking order if he fails to defend his Brisbane International title next week.
Hewitt's rankings would slide to 84 from 50 if he gets...

Brisbane, Australia: Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina has withdrawn from the Brisbane International with a left wrist injury, joining another former US Open champion, Marin Cilic, on the tournament sidelines.
Del Potro has been off the tour since undergoing surgery in March, but had targeted Brisbane as his return. The...

Melbourne: Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is in danger of going unseeded at next year's first Grand Slam tournament if she takes an early loss in her comeback at the Brisbane International.
Azarenka has not played since early September and managed just nine tournaments this year due to a left foot...

Roger Federer has confirmed he will return to the Brisbane International in January to kick off his preparation for the Australian Open.
Federer was beaten in last year's final by local favorite Lleyton Hewitt at the Queensland Tennis Centre and said he expected to be in top form for January's tournament.
The...

Minsk: After victory at the first tournament of the new season, the Brisbane International, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka has retained second place in the WTA rankings.
The Belarusian has 8,151 points while Serena Williams of the US has 13,260 points, reports Xinhua.
The first Grand Slam tournament of the new season, the Australian...

Brisbane: Lleyton Hewitt will go into the Australian Open as the player the top seeds will hope to avoid in the first round, after digging into his famed store of resolve to beat Roger Federer in the Brisbane International final on Sunday.
Hewitt dominated Federer in the first set and then...

Australia: Lleyton Hewitt won a title for the first time since 2010 with an upset 61, 46, 63 win at the Brisbane International over Roger Federer, his oldest rival on the tour.
The 32yearold former No. 1s have met 27 times dating back to 1999, and after Sunday's unexpected victory Hewitt...

Brisbane: This was one time Serena Williams didn't mind being pushed into the deep end, to use her own description. The topranked Williams carried her winning momentum from 2013 into the new season, beating No. 2ranked Victoria Azarenka 64, 75 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International...

Brisbane: Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt earned threeset victories on Saturday to set up a meeting in the Brisbane International final, renewing a rivalry that stretches back to the last millennium.
Federer beat No. 8seeded Jeremy Chardy 63, 67 (3), 63 in a semifinal featuring just two service breaks, immediately after...

Brisbane: Former No. 1ranked Lleyton Hewitt turned back to the clock with a gritty 57, 64, 63 win over secondseeded Kei Nishikori on Saturday to advance to the Brisbane International final and a possible showdown with Roger Federer.
The 32yearold Hewitt handled the heat better than his Japanese opponent as the...

Brisbane: Serena Williams extended her winning streak against Maria Sharapova to 14 matches with a 62, 76 (7) semifinal victory on Friday to earn a shot at backtoback Brisbane International titles.
The defending champion will play secondseeded Victoria Azarenka in Saturday's final, and will be favored to retain the title that...

Brisbane: Victoria Azarenka overcame a shaky serve and another case of the nerves to move into the Brisbane International final with a 16, 63, 64 win over former No. 1ranked Jelena Jankovic on Friday.
The Australian Open champion dropped her first three service games and was facing three break points in...

Brisbane: Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will renew their long and notsofriendly rivalry after setting up a semifinal matchup at the Brisbane International, a key tuneup event for the Australian Open.
Topranked Williams, the defending champion, didn't lose a point on her serve in the first set en route to a...

Brisbane: Roger Federer's new alliance with Stefan Edberg appears to be a sign he will be adopt a more aggressive game in 2014 but the Swiss believes it will be tough to make changes in time for this month's Australian Open.
Federer's decision to bring Swede Edberg in to work alongside...